The North Korean authorities reportedly held ideological training for all Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) members and workers at the beginning of September. These training sessions reportedly emphasized “support projects” and appear related to efforts to remind North Koreans about “self-sufficiency,” which was a keyword at the Third Plenary Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee in April. There was also encouragement to supporting various national development projects, including the major modernization project in Samjiyon.

“A training summary was handed down entitled ‘In Regards to the Complete Devotion to the Struggle to Achieve Our-Style of Socialism while Singing the Ode to the Motherland,” a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK.

An additional source in the capital added, “The main argument was that North Koreans must have an enthusiastic spirit of love toward the socialist motherland and sacrifice everything for the wealth, power and prosperity of the socialist motherland.”

In the 16-page training document obtained by Daily NK, most of the content focused on the need for residents to feel proud of North Korean-style socialism. The summary also called for some parts of the song, “Ode to the Motherland,” which was created on direct orders by Kim Jong Un ahead of the 65th anniversary of the country’s founding on September 9, 2013, to be sung by participants during the course of the training.

The document placed emphasis on loyalty and responsibility of the people by saying that “[everyone] must loyally accept the ideas and wise guidance of the Dear Respected Comrade [Kim Jong Un],” and that “[everyone] must wonderfully execute the revolutionary duties that have been given by the Party.”

It also encouraged participation in various development projects by declaring that “[everyone] must proactively find good work to do for the motherland and the people.” ......